I’m tired of reading about “Traveler’s Diarrhea,” foods to avoid, wash your hands, and what medications to carry if the dreaded “trots”…”Flying wazoos”…”Delhi Belly”…” Montezuma’s Revenge” strike. Imodium for light to moderate diarrhea and Cipro for the heavy stuff takes care of that. But what about the opposite end of the spectrum when intestines go on a sit-down-strike and fill up with cement? Unusual foods, lack of fruits and/or vegetables, minimal physical exercise, and time changes that turn day into night create the equally dreaded intestinal gridlock.

Days…and I do mean days go by while I try what the professionals recommend for “occasional constipation.” According to them, constipation can be caused by not enough liquids. Caffeinated drinks and energy drinks, dehydrate you and makes it worse! Bottled water only is advisable (unless you want to pick up dysentery) in most of the off-the-beaten areas we travel. Try chugging down bottles of water while the vehicle is jolting over rough roads without breaking a tooth and how many times can a person ask the driver to stop for pee breaks and where can he stop. On the side of a mountain with sheer drop offs and no place for him to pull over?

There are no toilets and on the remote chance one materializes, you don’t want to use it! In the open Tibetan grasslands that stretched for thousands of miles, there wasn’t even a bush! I personally have become inured to where I have to hunker down and cheerfully go about my business secure that the knowledge that none of these nomads on their motorcycles will ever materialize in my Chicago neighborhood. And, if they brake to watch my white butt … oh well.

wide open pastureland on Eastern Tibetan Plateau, China
Another recommendation is lots of fruits and/or vegetables packed with fiber. Both fruits and vegetables aren’t always available because of season. When they are, we chow down. However, you’d have to eat crates of fruit to overcome the other obstacles of time, lack of exercise, etc.

We recently returned from a three-week trip in China spent in the remote Eastern Tibetan Plateau with delicious but constipating food. Dumplings, “mo-mos”, noodles and tea for breakfast. Rice, dishes containing noodles with little bits of meat and vegetables, tea for lunch. Rice, dishes containing noodles with little bits of meat and vegetables, tea for dinner. FYI: The amount of vegetables in each dish is not enough to encourage rapid intestinal passage. Is it any wonder the small amounts of fecal output could have been used on a construction site?

yummy breakfast dumplings in China
Nothing works. Believe you me…there have been moments that I’ve actually been tempted to drink the local water and our medical stash now includes, dried Prunes and Apricots, Senokot-S (I think the “S” stands for super strong) and Fleet Suppositories for those all-too-painful times. This may sound like overkill and you may think it won’t happen to you, but take my word — It will and you’ll be so happy you listened to Travels With Sheila.